The August 7, 2006 edition of Midwest Ag Journal has an article on NAIS developments in Nebraska. The headline reads: NDA unveils “Locate In 48″ promotional campaign, begins new animal ID project. “Locate In 48″ is an educational and promotional campaign aimed at increasing the number of registered premises in Nebraska. According to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach, there are roughly 9,000 premises registered so far. The campaign is aimed at increasing awareness and registrations, with the goal of being able to traceback an animal in 48 hours.
I went over to the “Locate In 48” website to find out more. “Locate In 48″ is Nebraska’s statewide program to implement the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). It is worth your time to look over the website, especially if you live in Nebraska. The site is very clean and well-designed. (Although it doesn’t render properly in Firefox.) Information is presented in a clear and simple manner. There are even some beautiful pictures of animals, even including some free range chickens! (I expect that most chickens in Nebraska are raised in confinement.)
Let’s dig a little deeper into what is represented on the website. We are told, “Take the first step. Register your premises today.” On line registration will be available soon, which will certainly be convenient! I took a quick look at the one-page form. It includes a place to indicate your GPS Longitude and Latitude coordinates. I am only speculating, but it seems to me that GPS would be very useful for aerial or satellite surveillance. This possibility certainly raises privacy issues to me!
Three main benefits of premises identification are listed on the website: disease control, consumer confidence, and global markets. For disease control, the main benefit touted is the ability to control the spread of disease to minimize losses. Would the potential losses be greater than the cost of a system like this? They claim that consumer confidence will increase because of NAIS. With the data and privacy problems recently in the news, it is hard to imagine that a database of this size will be a great confidence booster. The last claim is that the global marketplace is beginning to demand disease traceability. It is not clear to me that this is true. I believe that the global marketplace wants disease-free products. Should not the focus be on that?
I also like to look at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
FAQ# 10. Is this a mandatory program? Participation in the premises registration system is currently voluntary.
Most of what I have read on the “voluntary” aspect of NAIS is that it will remain voluntary, as long as everyone participates. If 100% participation is not achieved, then the program will become mandatory.
FAQ# 20. Does registering a premises require me to individually identify or tag my animals? No, you do not have to individually identify or tag your animals at this time.
The phrase “at this time” should get your attention. Registering your premises is only the first step in a process that will require you to identify your animals and provide animal movement information. Beware of the first step!
If you live in Nebraska, take a stand and refuse to register your premises. Your state government is making it easy for you to sign away your rights and privacy. Is that what you want to do?
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[...] As a farmer or rancher, the effectiveness of a program, both from the aspect of preventing disease and the economic feasibility, is of utmost importance. The stated goal of NAIS is 48-hour traceback of livestock. Diseases are not prevented by 48-hour traceback. What traceback will enable is a shift in liability for disease problems from the food manufacturer and distributor to the food producer, i.e. farmer. Yes, the blame can go to the farmer and perhaps financial damages will be paid by the farmer as well! [...]
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